Personal Managers Association
Morning everyone – hope youâre all staying well. The sun is shining at least!
As promised, here is a round up from Equity per our call yesterday. We are scheduled to speak with them again on Friday and will update everyone again then.
If people are anxious about specific productions and their relevant suspension letters, force majeure language or just a complete lack of contact or information we would love to encourage people to form individual working parties per production.
Getting a lot of inquiries about; FOUNDATION, PENNYWORTH, DOMINA , BRITANNIA â if you have clients on any of these shows and would like to work collectively please get in touch.
NETFLIX â On their shows currently shooting. They have made an offer to continue the regular guaranteed minimum payments but as an advance against their overall fee. So they will receive no further money once their contract is paid in full. Equity have rejected this offer and Netflix have said they will re-look and come back. Equity are insisting on a further, retainer fee of some kind for this period of suspension in which they want to retain first call, exclusivity and all other contractual commitments.
If you have received a force majeure letter to this effect on THE WITCHER. Please note this is not agreed with Equity and we would urge you all to hold on your responses until they have a further offer from Netflix. Iâm happy to speak to people individually about this is you need.
BBC â Negotiations are on-going and hoping to have further detail by end of the week.
Artists on current BBC contracts will be paid their full weekly salary for; w/c 16th, 23rd and 30th March. So Artists will be paid in full as if working until the 3rd of April.
Equity current position with BBC – Artist who are on first call suspension pushing to get them £640 a week (which is the minimum weekly). The initial proposal from BBC was £93 second call payments under the agreement which was rejected.
ITV â Waiting to hear back from ITV across all their shows. Working with the intention they are paying full weekly fees for all weeks in which they are yet to make an offer for this period of suspension.
PACT/ TV â Equity have rejected their offer of extended second call payments under clause T45. And have counted for the weekly amount of £803 (min. engagement fee plus 4 production days under the PACT agreement). To retain first call under suspension. They are waiting to hear back from PACT. We feel they will likely try and counter lower than this but this is the current ask.
PACT/ FILM â Equity takes the same stance on second call payments (£118 per week as of 6th April and provided for under Force Majeure provision – F38 of the Cinema Films Agreement) and has advised Pact, studios and independent producers that they should be viewed as inadequate in these extreme and unprecedented circumstances where Artists are unable to secure alternative work. Equity is liaising with productions who have invoked F38 and is trying to steer towards retention on First Call where possible. Equity would like to draw agents’ attention to clause F8.4(ii)(b) of the Cinema Films Agreement whereby an Artist may be retained on a First Call basis in exchange for “supplementary payments” equal to twice the Artist’s negotiated daily salary per week. The cap as at 6th April is £576 per week but applicable use fees (280% full budget; 75% Low Budget; 50% Very Low Budget) should be paid in addition to this.
HOLLYOAKS â we’re in the same position as ITV in that Lime are having internal discussions and will be in touch but in the meantime cast are receiving payment for episodes currently being transmitted. Hollyoaks cast receive a fee per episode and receive 100% of that fee again for a repeat which is paid after transmission. So cast are currently receiving repeat fees for episodes going out.
Thanks as ever,
Alice, Bill & Kate x